A motor vehicle having a stowable storage apparatus is disclosed having a large deployed-to-stowed volume ratio thereby providing a useful carry capacity while being easy to package. The stowable storage apparatus includes a rigid first end wall and two flexible vertically disposed spaced apart side walls. The first end wall and the two side walls define, when the stowable storage apparatus is in a deployed state, three sides of an enclosure for storing one or more small objects.
|
1. A motor vehicle having a cabin, a row of seats mounted in the cabin, a structural component mounted in the cabin and a stowable storage apparatus comprising a first end wall and two side walls, wherein each of the two side walls (a) has a first end and a second end and (b) are fastened at their first ends to the first end wall whereby, when the first end wall is in a deployed position, the first end wall and the two side walls define three sides of an enclosure for storing one or more small objects supported by the structural component wherein a central walkthrough gap is defined between the structural component and the row of seats and, when the stowable storage apparatus is in a deployed state, the first end wall of the stowable storage apparatus is spaced away from the structural component so that the two side walls of the stowable storage apparatus span substantially an entire longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap.
2. A vehicle as claimed in
3. A vehicle as claimed in
4. A vehicle as claimed in
5. A vehicle as claimed in
6. A vehicle as claimed in
7. A vehicle as claimed in
8. A vehicle as claimed in
9. A vehicle as claimed in
10. A vehicle as claimed in
11. A vehicle as claimed in
12. A vehicle as claimed in
13. A vehicle as claimed in
14. A vehicle as claimed in
15. A vehicle as claimed in
16. A vehicle as claimed in
17. A vehicle as claimed in
18. A vehicle as claimed in
|
This document relates to the provision of an apparatus in a cabin of a motor vehicle for temporarily storing small objects during transit and, in particular, to a stowable storage apparatus having a large deployed-to-stowed volume ratio for mounting in the cabin of a motor vehicle.
Some motor vehicles have an interior architecture often described as being of a ‘walkthrough’ design. This is when a floor console between a first row of seats does not connect with an instrument panel of the motor vehicle but stops short of the instrument panel or when the motor vehicle has a bench type seat. The gap between the instrument panel and the floor console or the bench seat will be referred to here as the ‘walkthrough gap’.
The presence of a ‘walkthrough gap’ can improve the feeling of space for those who want to have less of a ‘cockpit’ feel. However, some storage space is lost with such an arrangement when the floor console does not extend from between the front seats to the instrument panel as this part of the floor console is often provided with some storage capacity.
The use of a long floor console extending to the instrument panel is popular because a gear selector and sometimes a parking brake lever or switch can be housed in this part of the floor console. The inventors have realised that, as vehicles increasingly move to electric parking brakes, drive-by wire including electronically controlled gearboxes and electric or hybrid powertrains, items such as a parking brake lever or switch and a gear selector can be housed elsewhere in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle thereby facilitating the use of a shorter floor console providing a ‘walkthrough gap’.
However, it is disadvantageous when the floor console is short and ends at a position level with the front seats due to the loss of storage space in a central location within the motor vehicle.
It is an object to provide a stowable storage apparatus that solves the problem of lost storage space thereby facilitating the provision of a walkthrough arrangement.
It is a second object to provide a stowable storage apparatus that has a large deployed-to-stowed volume ratio.
According to a first aspect, there is provided a motor vehicle having a cabin, a row of seats mounted in the cabin, a structural component mounted in the cabin and a stowable storage apparatus comprising a rigid first end wall and two flexible vertically disposed spaced apart side walls. Each of the flexible side walls have first and second ends and are fastened at their first ends to the first end wall such that, when the first end wall is in a deployed position, the first end wall and the two side walls define three sides of an enclosure for storing one or more small objects supported by the structural component. A central walkthrough gap is defined between the structural member and the row of seats. When the stowable storage apparatus is in the deployed state, the first end wall of the stowable storage apparatus is spaced away from the structural component so that the flexible side walls of the stowable storage apparatus span substantially the entire longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap.
Each flexible side wall may be attached at a second end to a respective spring biased roller. The spring biasing of the roller is arranged to promote rolling of the flexible material from which the respective flexible side wall is made onto the roller.
The flexible side walls may be rolled onto their respective rollers when the first end wall is in a stowed position.
When the first end wall is moved away from the stowed position to the deployed position, the two flexible side walls may be unrolled from their respective rollers against the action of the spring biasing of the rollers.
When the first end wall is in the deployed position the biasing spring may produce a tension in both of the flexible side walls thereby holding them taut.
Alternatively the apparatus may further comprise a floor joining together the two flexible side walls and the two flexible side walls and the floor of the apparatus form a collapsible corrugated U-shaped trough.
When the first end wall is moved from the deployed position to a stowed position, the two flexible side walls and the floor may fold in a concertina manner.
The collapsible corrugated U-shaped trough may be formed from a number of wire stays connected together by fabric.
The apparatus may further comprise a pair of spaced apart extendible rails and the collapsible corrugated U-shaped trough may be suspended from the pair of spaced apart extendible rails.
The stays in one of the two side walls may have upper ends slideably attached to a first one of the pair of extendible rails and the stays in the other of the two side walls may have upper ends slideably attached to a second one of the pair of extendible rails.
When the stowable storage apparatus is in a stowed state, the first end wall of the stowable storage apparatus may be positioned adjacent the structural component so that the stowable storage apparatus reduces by only a small amount the longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap.
The structural component may be an instrument panel of the motor vehicle and the stowable storage apparatus may be supported by a central column of the instrument panel.
When the stowable storage apparatus is in the stowed state, the first end wall may abut against a face of the central column of the instrument panel.
The face may include a depression and, when the stowable storage apparatus is in the stowed state, the depression may form a small opening between the first side wall of the stowable storage apparatus and the central column for stowing small flat objects.
The row of seats may comprise a pair of spaced apart front seats with a floor console mounted therebetween and the central walkthrough gap may be defined between a front end of the floor console and the central column of structural component.
The floor console may include a latch for holding the stowable storage apparatus in the deployed state.
The central column may include a panel defining a second end wall for the stowable storage apparatus.
The panel, the first end wall and the two side walls may form a four sided enclosure for storing one or more small objects.
The stowable storage apparatus will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing of which:
With particular reference to
The instrument panel 10 has a transversely extending elongate upper part 11 and a central column 12 extending between a lower end of the elongate upper part 11 and a floor 2 of the motor vehicle.
A walkthrough gap ‘g’ is defined between a front end of the floor console 7 and a rear facing panel 15 of the central column 12.
The stowable storage apparatus 20 comprises a rigid first end wall 21 and two flexible vertically disposed spaced apart side walls 23, 24 which in combination define, when the stowable storage apparatus is in a deployed state as illustrated in
Each of the flexible side walls 23, 24 has a first end fastened to the first end wall 21. A second end of each flexible side wall 23, 24 is attached to a respective spring biased roller 25, 26 (shown in dotted outline). The spring biasing of the rollers 25, 26 is arranged to promote rolling of flexible material from which the flexible side walls 23, 24 are made onto the respective roller 25, 26. The rollers 25, 26 are mounted in the case of this embodiment behind a panel 27 of the central column 12 of the instrument panel 10 that forms a second end wall for the stowable storage apparatus 20. The panel 27 defines apertures or slits through which the flexible material extends for attachment to the first end wall 21. Each of the rollers 25, 26 is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis of rotation and is held in place by a part of the structure forming the central column 12.
A handle 22 is located on an outer face of the first end wall 21 for use by a user of the stowable storage apparatus.
A recess or depression 14 is formed in the rear facing panel 15 of the central column 12. The depression 14 forms a small opening between the first side wall 21 of the stowable storage apparatus 20 and the central column 12 for stowing a small flat object such as a newspaper, magazine or map even when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the stowed state shown in
In the stowed state, the first end wall 21 is positioned adjacent to and abuts against the rear facing panel 15 of the central column 12 and the flexible side walls 23, 24 are rolled onto their respective rollers 25, 26.
Therefore, in the stowed state the volume occupied by the stowable storage apparatus 20 with the cabin 1 and in particular within the central column 12 is very small. Also, because the first end wall 21 is positioned adjacent the rear facing panel 15 of the central column 12 in the stowed state and is relatively thin, the stowable storage apparatus 20 reduces by only a small amount the longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap ‘g’ when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is stowed.
However, when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is configured, as shown in
Therefore, in the deployed state, the flexible side walls 23, 24 of the stowable storage apparatus 20 span substantially the entire longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap ‘g’. In the deployed position the two flexible side walls 23, 24 are unrolled from their respective rollers 25, 26 against the action of the biasing spring of the rollers 25, 26 and the action of the biasing spring produces a tension in both of the flexible side walls 23, 24 thereby holding them taut.
It will be appreciated that, in order to produce further tension in the side walls 23, 24 when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state, the length of material used for the side walls 23, 24 is tailored to suit the application such that minimal additional extension of the side walls 23, 24 is possible when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state.
It will be appreciated that, when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state, the panel 27, the first end wall 21 and the two side walls 23, 24 form a four sided enclosure for transporting or temporary stowage of small objects such as, for example and without limitation, a take-away meal, a packet of biscuits, a tablet computer, a bottle of wine, a purse, a wallet, a handbag and other like small objects.
When the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state, it occupies a large volume in the cabin compared to the volume it occupies when it is stowed. Therefore, a significant carrying volume is provided by the stowable storage apparatus in the deployed state.
The deployed-to-stowed volume ratio of such a stowable storage apparatus 20 is therefore very high which is advantageous because such an apparatus is easy to package while providing a significant storage capacity.
In the case of this example the structural component is the central column 12 of the instrument panel 10 but it will be appreciated that the cassette assembly 40 could also be fitted into an aperture in a rear end of a floor console to provide storage for a second row of seats or in a front end of a shortened floor console to provide a similar utility to that provided by the apparatus shown in
The cassette assembly 40 comprises a housing 30 that supports two rollers 25, 26. As before, two flexible side walls 23, 24 are fastened at one end to the first end wall 21 and at an opposite end to the two rollers 25, 26.
A wall 31 of the housing 30 forms a second end wall for the stowable storage apparatus. The wall 31 defines two slots through which the flexible side walls 23, 24 extend between the first end wall 21 and the two rollers 25, 26.
Operation and utility of this embodiment is the same as that previously described with respect to
The apparatus shown in
With such an arrangement very small objects such as, for example, pens, pencils or loose change could slip under the extended flexible side walls 23, 24 when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state. Therefore, to minimise this risk, the flexible side walls 23, 24 can be arranged to extend within a recess bounded by walls.
With reference to
As before a structural member in the form of an instrument panel 10, a pair of front seats 5, 6, a floor console 7 mounted between the two seats 5, 6 and the stowable storage apparatus 120 are all mounted in the cabin 1.
As before, the instrument panel 10 has a transversely extending elongate upper part 11 and a central column 12 extending between a lower end of the elongate upper part 11 and a floor 2 of the motor vehicle. A walkthrough gap ‘G’ is defined between a front end of the floor console 7 and a part of the stowable storage apparatus 120 that overlies the central column 12.
The stowable storage apparatus 120 comprises a rigid first end wall 121 and two flexible vertically disposed spaced apart side walls 123, 124 which in combination define, when the stowable storage apparatus 120 is in a deployed state, three sides of an enclosure for storing one or more small objects.
Each of the flexible side walls 123, 124 has a first end fastened to the first end wall 121. A second end of each flexible side wall 123, 124 is attached to a panel 116 of the central column 12.
A floor 125 (
The side walls 123, 124 and floor 125 forming the collapsible corrugated U-shaped trough are made from a number of bent wire stays 130 connected together by fabric.
A pair of spaced apart extendible rails 126, 128; 127, 129 are used to suspend the collapsible corrugated U-shaped trough. Each of the extendible rails has a first part 126, 127 connected to the first end wall 121 and a second part 128, 129 fastened to part of the central column 12.
Upper ends of the bent stays 130 in a first one 123 of the two side walls 123, 124 are slideably attached to a first one 126, 128 of the pair of extendible rails 126, 128, 127; 129 and upper ends of the bent stays 130 in the other one 124 of the two side walls 123, 124 are slideably attached to a second one 127, 129 of the pair of extendible rails 126, 128; 127, 129.
Due to the corrugated nature of the U-shaped trough, when the first end wall 121 is moved from the deployed position to a stowed position, the two flexible side walls 123, 124 and the floor 125 fold up in a concertina manner.
In the stowed state shown in
To change the configuration of the stowable storage apparatus 120 from the stowed state shown in
When the stowable storage apparatus 120 is configured, as shown in
Therefore, in the deployed state, the flexible side walls 123, 124 of the stowable storage apparatus 120 span substantially the entire longitudinal depth of the central walkthrough gap ‘G’.
It will be appreciated that, in order to produce tension in the side walls 123, 124 and the floor 125 when the stowable storage apparatus 120 is in the deployed state, the amount of material used for the side walls 123, 124 and the floor 125 is tailored to suit the application such that minimal additional extension of the side walls 123, 124 and the floor 125 is possible when the stowable storage apparatus 20 is in the deployed state. That is to say, in the deployed state, the side walls 123, 124 and the floor 125 are held taut.
It will be appreciated that, when the stowable storage apparatus 120 is in the deployed state, the panel 116, the first end wall 121, the floor 125 and the two side walls 123, 124 form a four sided enclosure for transporting or temporary stowage of small objects such as those previously referred to. As before, when the stowable storage apparatus 120 is in the deployed state, it occupies a large volume compared to the volume it occupies when it is stowed. The deployed-to-stowed volume ratio of this stowable storage apparatus is therefore also advantageously high thereby providing a good ratio of carrying capacity to required packaging volume.
In
It will be appreciated that with this third embodiment a number of further partially deployed positions could be provided by means of detents on the first and second parts 126 and 128; 127 and 129 of the pair of extendible telescoping rails 126, 128; 127, 129.
The stowable storage apparatus 20, 120:
Because of the collapsible nature of such a stowable storage apparatus 20, 120, it provides much more space for storage than is required for it to be stowed particularly when compared to a drawer. It will however be appreciated that, unlike a drawer, such an apparatus cannot be stowed when full of items.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the stowable storage apparatus 20, 120 has been described by way of example with reference to one or more embodiments it is not limited to the disclosed embodiments and that alternative embodiments could be constructed without departing from the scope of the apparatus as defined by the appended claims.
Murray, Andrew John, Southey, Bruce, Hamilton, Niall
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
10377317, | Dec 12 2016 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Vehicle console with coupled motion and enhanced storage capabilities |
10576918, | Dec 12 2016 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Vehicle console with coupled motion and enhanced storage capabilities |
11084437, | Dec 12 2016 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Vehicle console with coupled motion and enhanced storage capabilities |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
4223939, | Oct 24 1978 | Attachment for converting a vehicle into an expandible vehicle | |
4355837, | Oct 24 1979 | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | Glove compartment |
5716091, | May 20 1996 | Irvin Automotive Products, Inc. | Flipper panel with storage bin |
5845954, | Jun 25 1996 | Toyota Technical Center, U.S.A., Inc. | Glove box assembly including glove box that is positionable in a partially open position |
6106043, | Sep 24 1997 | Suzuki Motor Corporation | Glove box structure |
6231099, | Oct 15 1999 | Delphi Technologies, Inc | Reconfigurable glove box bin |
6682115, | Jun 28 2002 | International Automotive Components Group North America, Inc | Storage apparatus for a vehicle panel closure |
6715815, | Sep 26 2000 | WILMINGTON TRUST FSB, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT | Glove compartment for an automobile |
6921118, | Apr 22 2002 | YANFENG CZECHIA AUTOMOTIVE INTERIOR SYSTEMS S R O | Sliding and nesting console system |
7140660, | Aug 25 2004 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | Cup holder assembly |
7201421, | Feb 11 2005 | International Automotive Components Group North America, Inc | Rear vehicle storage system |
7658431, | Aug 24 2007 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Stowable child seat for automotive vehicles |
7770952, | Oct 12 2007 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | Vehicle trash management apparatus |
7921998, | Feb 14 2008 | INNOVATIVE STORAGE DESIGNS, INC | File organizer with divider bar |
8517444, | Jan 20 2012 | Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc.; Faurecia Interior Systems, Inc | Reconfigurable console assembly and method of assembling the same |
8714093, | Mar 19 2009 | Scania CV AB | Instrument panel and board unit intended for same |
8939491, | Jan 16 2013 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Multiple container holder assembly |
9216692, | Feb 17 2010 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | Seat panel pocket and method |
9238439, | Jul 30 2013 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Storage assembly for vehicle center console |
9257799, | Jun 10 2014 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Vehicle electronic connector hub |
9381871, | May 31 2013 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | Vehicle cargo organiser |
20030116461, | |||
20060022479, | |||
20080029986, | |||
20080079279, | |||
20090000975, | |||
20090001748, | |||
20100090491, | |||
20130249232, | |||
20130320694, | |||
20140367396, | |||
JP2012020669, | |||
WO2012168652, |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Jun 06 2016 | HAMILTON, NIALL | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 039043 | /0815 | |
Jun 13 2016 | MURRAY, ANDREW JOHN | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 039043 | /0815 | |
Jun 15 2016 | SOUTHEY, BRUCE | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 039043 | /0815 | |
Jun 29 2016 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
Jun 10 2021 | M1551: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 4th Year, Large Entity. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
Jan 30 2021 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Jul 30 2021 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 30 2022 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
Jan 30 2024 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
Jan 30 2025 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Jul 30 2025 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 30 2026 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
Jan 30 2028 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
Jan 30 2029 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Jul 30 2029 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 30 2030 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
Jan 30 2032 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |